NASCAR at Michigan: Impossible to ignore Cup Series' 'Big 3'

Erick Moore |Monday, August 13, 2018

Static AP Track Drying MichiganMore

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is in Michigan for Sunday's Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. You can catch all of the action from MI, starting with prerace coverage at 1:30pm on WBUT 1050AM.

He led five laps after making his final stop behind Harvick's under green, and he then hung onto second with a two-tire stop. We finished second. It's frustrating. Thus, even more pressure to start up front and, ultimately, to try to win the Busch Pole Award. And Joey Logano was penalized at the start for an unapproved adjustment to a front shock. Kyle Larson 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 19.

Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers. He remained in the position as Stage #2 began on lap 67.

Less than 10 laps, in, though, Erik Jones brought out the first caution for a spin and a trip into the grass. Johnson pitted to relinquish the lead to Truex. Dillon nevertheless held fourth place at the finish, one spot ahead of Ryan Blaney.

Busch, who led 22 laps, said his auto was not as good as Harvick's but, "it was pretty close".

Harvick won the first and second stages of the three-stage race to collect bonus playoff points.

"We had a rough day for sure, everything that could go wrong, did", said Truex who led the second most laps (25).

Harvick has only finished outside of the top-10 four times all year and three of those were DNFs after being part of an incident.

Johnson briefly moved back to the lead when he stayed out when the yellow flag waved on Lap 74.

On Lap 161, Alex Bowman was the first to stop for fuel and tires as soon as they got within their fuel window to make it to the finish. Harvick led 108 of 200 laps and beat runner-up Brad Keselowski by 3.23 seconds. 85-109; K. Harvick 110-170; A. Dillon 171-175; J. Logano 176; R. Newman 177-188; J. McMurray 189; K. Harvick 190-200.

The past 10 winners above represent the second race of the year at Michigan International Speedway. Blaney was third followed by Kurt Busch. Keelan got the checkered flag and then got a special lift into the "passenger" side of the vehicle for the ride to Victory Lane.

Roberts was all over Busch two weeks ago at Pocono, pointing to not only his 26 career starts at the track but also his motivation to win after a late bump from Harvick the week before. After deciding to wait inside his dad's vehicle during the Victory Lane champagne spray bath, he ultimately climbed out and playfully splashed a water bottle on Harvick's business manager standing nearby.

"I was sitting there watching (Allgaier and Cindric) go at it. So, you know they have I think 10 days straight of racing within this area, and you know all your friends and stuff you don't get to see all the time are here, so it's just nice, central get together for everybody, so racing is good, the atmosphere is good, and I just enjoy it". No other driver clocked more than 11, and most were content with five circuits or fewer as they prepped for Friday afternoon's qualifying session.

The series next heads to Bristol, Tenn., for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. The race victor stopped at the start-finish line to celebrate with the fans and his son, Keelan, made his way out to give his dad a hug.

Idris Elba pokes fun at James Bond rumors on Twitter
Daniel Craig still has one final Bond film, the yet-untitled 25th in the series, which is expected to begin filming late in 2018. A representative for Fuqua told THR , "He never had a conversation with Barbara about the franchise or about any casting".

Killer whale finally lets dead calf go
Orcas, also called killer whales, are highly social, and this pod was spotted Friday afternoon near Vancouver, British Columbia. August 11, 2018 J35 update: "The ordeal of J35 carrying her dead calf for at least seventeen days and 1,000 miles is..." Dr.

Saudis in talks to take Tesla private: Elon Musk
One suit claims Musk and the company committed fraud in a " short squeeze " scheme to drive up Tesla's stock price higher. Sources said he is canvassing other potential investors including asset managers.

Omarosa unveils new audio of Trump's call to her after firing
The alleged revelation came as Newman released audio she secretly recorded when she was booted from the White House in December. The president expresses disbelief at her dismissal, which he claims he "didn't know" about until he saw it on the news.

Nadal drops out of Cincinnati, scuttling 'Big 4' reunion
He'll crack the top 15 in the world rankings next week. "I need to work much more and hopefully I can reach his level one day". Stefanos will play the victor of the semi-final between top-ranked Rafael Nadal and Karen Khachanov .

Saudi freeze in Canada likely of little impact
The Canadian government's dispute with Saudi Arabia has leaders in Saskatchewan concerned about energy and agriculture trading. The Saudi Press Agency said Thursday that the "diplomatic crisis" wouldn't affect the kingdom's petroleum supplies to Canada.